Hanoi (VNA) – At least 10 people were killed and 11 others stillmissing after a passenger ferry carrying 147 people caught fire and sank incentral Indonesia on September 14.
The ferry Fungka Permata V was onits way from Bau-Bau port of Southeast Sulawesi province to Sanana port inNorth Maluku province, about 520km away, when it caught fire in waters offCentral Sulawesi province’s Banggai Regency.
Rescuers were deployed to the siteand rescued 126 passengers. Investigation into the accident is underway.
In July, a ferry with over 140people on board also sank in waters off the coast of central Indonesia, leavingat least 29 dead.
The accident happened two weeksafter a vessel sank on Indonesia’s Lake Toba that left around 170 dead.
Ferry tragedies are common inIndonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, due to weak enforcementof safety regulations.-VNA